Titanic – Part II: Haven Exploration

100 years ago tonight the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and a few hours later/early the next morning (April 15, 1912) it had sunk.

As I mentioned in Titanic Part I: It Was Sad When the Great Ship Went Down earlier this week, I have been fascinated by all things Titanic for years.

When I was in the eighth grade one of my friends and I did a project for our Haven Middle School “Exploration” night. My friend’s mother was a professor at one of our local universities and we spent a lot of time at a library there on campus doing research.

Back then (in 1989) there was no internet and so we found our information the way most students did: in hard back Encyclopedias, books about Titanic and through looking at rolls of microfilm and microfiche. We made photo copies and printed out pictures and relevant newspaper articles from April 1912, mostly from The New York Times.

Our scanner on our printer is not working, so I used my digital camera to take photos of pictures that I have of my friend and my “Haven Exploration” project on the RMS Titanic. I also took photos of the various pieces of our project that I was able to find and have held on to all these years. Below you will find all of those photos. For the most part they speak for themselves.

I am doing this mostly for myself/posterity, in case anything ever happens to the original hard copies or I decide to get rid of them, I know they will be here for me to revisit and show my children if and when they are interested in the future (Sean has already looked at some). Though I do hope you find them worthwhile too. I realize there are a lot more up-to-date and tech savvy resources and information available at our finger tips online about Titanic, but I still think it can be interesting and nostalgic to reflect on Titanic this way.

The first picture is of our project on display the night of “Haven Exploration.” After spending months preparing, the eighth grade students in our school and our parents would come together one evening to display and view each other’s projects. I recall it being a great thrill to show off what we had put together. I was so proud of our hard work and had learned so much along the way.

As Bob and I have been reading about and watching coverage of the 100th Anniversary of Titanic on this week, I have often thought and remarked to him that if there had ever been a topic/subject area that I would want to have researched and studied for my vocation, in an alternative reality/version of my life, the Titanic would likely be it. Many of the programs we’ve seen have interviewed people who do this for a living and I do find their work so interesting, though also somewhat depressing.

That being said, I give you our Haven Exploration Project (to view any photos in greater size, click on them and they will open in a new window, where you should able to read the words and see the pictures more easily):

As I worked on this post tonight, I have been following The History Channel and others’ #TITANIC tweets, who have been sharing in “real time” about the events of that “night to remember” 100 years ago.

Earlier today my brother-in-law was teasing me about my obsession fascination with Titanic and asked if I had my alarm set to get up in the night/early morning to mark the moment the great ship went down. Though I do not intend to do that, I have appreciated the opportunity to reflect on this milestone in our world’s history. Also, I supposed if you go by “Titanic Local Time” which is estimated to be about EST + 1.5 hours, it has already happened.

May those passengers from the Titanic who died on April 15, 1912 and those who survived, lived and died sometime thereafter rest in peace.

On this 100th anniversary, I leave you with the lyrics to a song some claim was the last to be played by the band on Titanic before it sank. Though I realize it is probably not true, I still find it moving to imagine that some of the passengers who perished might have found some comfort during their last moments in hearing such music.

Nearer, My God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
still all my song shall be,
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
yet in my dreams I’d be
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

There let the way appear, steps unto heaven;
all that thou sendest me, in mercy given;
angels to beckon me
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with thy praise,
out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
so by my woes to be
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Or if, on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I fly,
still all my song shall be,
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!